Gaza Strip: Da Silva (parish priest), “thinking of a future is difficult, let’s focus on the present to make it liveable”. Israel denies permits to priests and nuns

Faced with the humanitarian emergency in Gaza, where the extremely serious water and hygienic-sanitary shortages have been compounded in the last few days by the problem of blackouts, “just 2 and a half hours’ electricity a day”, “thinking of a future is very difficult, that’s why we’d better focus on the present to try and make it more liveable”. This is the story told to SIR by father Mario Da Silva, priest of the Holy Family parish church, the only Catholic one in the Strip, composed of just 138 devotees. “I have recently updated our figures, and we have reached this number because of the six babies born in the last few months”, he adds, over the phone. “Delivery of electricity has been remarkably reduced – the priest confirms – from eight hours a day to just two and a half hours. The living conditions have got worse: it is not easy to live without lighting and electricity. We cannot use air conditioning – temperatures in Gaza are very high in this period – and we cannot store food in the fridges. The situation is not much better for priests and nuns either. “We cannot leave the Strip, and this is a big problem for us – he says worriedly –; in the last few months, Israel has been denying permits. Only after a little pressure could we get some for a few nuns. Permits denied to other religious staff. Next week, I have to leave the Strip, but I don’t know if I can go back. We’ll see if Israel decides to renew the expiring ones or not. The Latin Patriarchate will do something”. Despite the extremely serious difficulties that all of the Strip is experiencing, the parish is trying to relieve conditions, especially those of the younger ones. “Now, schools are closed. A few days ago, we ended our Summer Camp (started on June 1^st), which was attended by about 200 children and teenagers, both Catholic and Orthodox, helped by 20 teachers. Those have been very busy, intense days – Da Silva states – lived in our parish. Beautiful days, with our children able to toy with scraps of normal life, something that’s not easy at all, here, in the Strip”. Because in Gaza, people live “from day to day. Without thinking of the future. That future that only a miracle can give us”, he concludes.